A host of Canadian oil producers said Wednesday that they were paring capital spending plans as an uncertain outlook caused by lower oil prices rocks the industry.

Husky Energy Inc.
HUSKF 0.32%
and
Penn West Petroleum Ltd.
were among the Calgary-based companies that said they would reduce capital investment next year following the dramatic plunge in oil prices in recent weeks.

Surging oil production in North America, coupled with a decline in global demand, has led many energy producers to rethink their investment plans for the coming year.

Oil prices have fallen more than 50% since June. Prices for light, sweet crude closed up 54 cents, or about 1%, at $56.47 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday.

Husky Energy said it plans to cut capital spending 33% to 3.4 billion Canadian dollars ($2.9 billion) in 2015. It also projected total 2015 production of between 325,000 and 355,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, compared with the 341,000 barrels a day it expects to produce this year.

In addition to scaling back its capital-spending plans, Penn West also slashed its dividend to 3 Canadian cents a share from 14 Canadian cents starting with the dividend payable in April 2015. Husky Energy left its dividend intact.

Also on Wednesday,
Bonavista Energy Corp.
announced a reduction in its 2015 capital budget to a range of between C$375 million and C$425 million, and slashed its monthly dividend in half to 3.5 Canadian cents a share.
Whitecap Resources Inc.
cut its capital-spending plans for next year by 32% to C$245 million.
MEG Energy Corp.
also cut its capital program to C$305 million from previous guidance of C$1.2 billion.

The capital-spending cuts were welcomed by skittish investors, who bid up shares of Husky Energy by 10.4% and Penn West by 7.8% in trading Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange, according to data provider FactSet. Additionally, Bonavista was up 8.6%, Whitecap Resources rose 9.4% and MEG Energy gained 10.7%.

Last week, oil producer
Cenovus Energy Inc.
lowered its 2015 capital-spending budget by about 15% and guided for a 29% drop in cash flow.
Canadian Oil Sands Ltd.
also plans to slash spending and recently announced a steep dividend cut.